Chinese Drywall Inspections

Many Florida homes and office buildings built since 2003 contain defective drywall manufactured in China. During Florida’s construction boom between 2004 and 2007, many builders imported Chinese drywall due to a shortage of U.S.-manufactured drywall. A test commissioned by the Florida Health Department and conducted by Unified Engineering, Inc. found that the Chinese drywall contained sulfur-containing gases including strontium sulfide which turns into hydrogen sulfide when exposed to heat. Another laboratory conducted air samples of homes that were built with Chinese drywall and found traces of carbon disulfide, carbonyl sulfide and dimethyl sulfide. Some Indicators of defective drywall are:

Home may have a slight or strong, sulfur, rotten egg or even acid type smell.

Stove top, Air conditioning coils, oven elements, and refrigerators may be failing at an unusually high rate—often within a year or less.

Silver jewelry or flatware may be tarnishing within months or even weeks. Mirrors might turn black.

Homeowner or family member may have experienced symptoms of severe allergies, nose bleeds, or upper respiratory problems since moving into the home.

If you suspect that you may have Chinese drywall in your home, call us for information on how we can visually inspect your home for Chinese drywall.
We will look for to determine if the house may have Chinese drywall by checking:

Was the house built or remodeled between 2003 to present

Rotten egg or sulfur-type smell in the home

Corrosion on air conditioning coils, or HVAC units

Corroded or black electrical wiring

Corroded or black copper pipes

Corroded or tarnished plumbing fixtures

Look for the words; “CHINA” in red ink or “KNAUF” in black ink on the back of the Drywall

If any of these symptoms are noticeable during the course of your visual inspection, then bulk samples of the drywall will need to be sent to an accreted lab for analysis on the components and determine the levels of gases and whether they are above average.